Latest Posts

• Book of the Week: When All Hell Break Loose

  This week I read When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin, a survival expert. I learned about Cody Lundin from watching the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival. The premise of the show is that two survival experts with different philosophies will go through survival scenarios, such as being lost in the jungle or ship capsizing on a deserted island. Most of the drama in the show is from the conflicting philosophies. Cody is the hippy, eat grubs and insects kind of guy. The other survival expert is the build traps, kill animal, take risks type of person. From watching the show, you can tell that Cody is a person who practices what he teaches. I learned a lot about starting fires from watching him on the show. That was enough motivation to read his book. People have this romanticized ideal of camping and living off the land. Living off the land sucks and is really hard. Most people would be dead if they were forced to live off the land. This book deals with that reality. The first part of the book is about the mental game. The second part of the book is about actually doing stuff about keeping warm, securing food, making water potable, sanitation, lighting, cooking, first-aid, etc. There’s useful information, like using newspaper for insulation to keep warm. Although, I already learned that trick from homeless people in San Francisco. I’m not one of those doomsayers who stock up on ammunition, but I have been through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. One has to be prepared for the next disaster. This book is a reminder to get my preparation in order. Those interested in survival manuals might also want to check out US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76. The book was okay. I’d rather watch Dual Survival and go camping instead.

• Books for Entrepreneurs

  Here are some books for people who want to start companies. Real books, none of the touchy feely crap. Read these books and your business will have a better chance at succeeding, because you’ll be focusing your time working on the right problems.

• Books for Computer Scientist

  Here are some books that are useful for new hires to read. It makes it easier to convey thoughts and ideas if everyone is on the same page.

• Book of the Week: Moby Dick

  I decided to read Moby Dick months ago, but it has been a long and arduous journey. One that I do not wish to continue for the time being. The quest for Moby Dick has caused me to suffer and slip in other subject areas. When I started reading the book, I didn’t know it was ridiculously long. I kept flipping through pages on my Kindle, but the progress bar barely moved after a few days. Moby Dick written in a time when books were a primary form of entertainment. It amazes me that a person can just make up enough stuff to fill all those pages. Moby Dick seems to be one of those books that everyone knows is about crazy Captain Ahab going after a white whale, but few people have actually read. When I started reading the book, the white whale and captain were no where to be found. So far, the book is definitely interesting. The Kindle is useful to look up Hebrew and seafaring words. This is one of those books that you need to read on a week long vacation to read. I’m putting it off till I get one of those. The white whale still eludes me.

• Book of the Week: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

  

• Book of the Week: The Bootstrapper's Bible

  This week I read the pdf version of the The Bootstrapper’s Bible by Seth Godin. It was a quick and “free for two weeks until December 30th”. Note that it is April 5th 2014 today.

• Book of the Week: The Box

  This week I read The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson. I’ve been thinking a lot about how goods move from place to place and how that will change in the future as the sharing economy grows. The Box tells the story of how the shipping container overcame obstacles and became ubiquitous. The world became a much smaller place, because of the shipping container.

• Book of the Week: The Art of the Start

  This week I read The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki, the original Apple evangelist. The book covers starting, positioning, pitching, writing a business plan, bootstrapping, recruiting, raising capital, partnering, branding, rain making and being a mensch. I liked the book a lot, but a lot has changed in the startup world in 10 years. Not that anything mentioned here is wrong, but it is now gospel is startup land. The ideas are more formalized now. It was a good read since it conveys information efficiently with no bullshit. Bootstrapping and Raising Capital

• Book of the Week: Minecraft

  

• Book of the Week: The Startup Owner's Manual

  If you have taken the Steve Blank’s Lean Startup class on Udacity, you may have heard of The Startup Owner’s Manual. This isn’t one of those books that you read cover to cover. He treats it like an automotive repair manual. You read the sections of the book that you are having problems with. It is only worth reading if you actually have a startup. Reading the book is pointless unless you actually have actions to take. I can read all about repairing an 86’ Supra, but if I don’t have the car, all that knowledge is not going to do me any good. This book represents Professor Blank’s work to make startups more systematic.

• Book of the Week: Marijuana Gateway to Health

  After the legalization of recreational marijuana in Arizona, I decided to learn more about the medicinal uses of marijuana by reading Marijuana Gateway to Health: How Cannabis Protects Us From Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease by Clint Werner. Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease Studies show that marijuana decreases the risk of cancer, even lung cancer. This is in stark contrast to tobacco. Makes you wonder why tobacco is legal, but marijuana is not. The effect of making marijuana illegal, lead to growing of strains that had high THC to CBD ratios. THC makes you high, but CBD may have more medical uses. People want to carry around less weed, so they grew strains that were stronger. I didn’t know there were so many strains with different ratios. Legalization of marijuana should improve the genetic diversity of the plant making it better for researching medical cures. Marijuana seems like a miracle drug. Maybe it will lead to a cure for cancer.

• Book of the Week: The Art of Fermentation

  I decided to read The Art of Fermentation after hearing an interview with the author on Science Friday. Fermented foods are a large part of many cultures. It seems that I like reading about fermentation since I already read a book on making alcohol from various plants. I liked this book more than the Drunken Botanist, which was more of a coffee table book. Health When I first read the author’s bio of being a HIV+ homosexual hippy, I was worried the health section of the book would be all touchy-feely without science substance. My worries were unfounded. The bacteria around us and inside us have a large influence on our health and well being. Our ancestors have evolved in a bacteria filled environment, so one would believe that there may be some dependence on them. After all, mitochondria used to be outside our cells and now live inside them. Fermentation is about creating a controlled environment, such that the good bacteria may live. Everybody eats fermented foods, but most people don’t like bacteria. A consequence of this is the rise in allergies linked to the war on bacteria. Food There are so many different types of fermented food. Best to just read the book and then start fermenting yourself.